Since being elected as the Leader of the Labour Party in 2010, Ed Miliband has had to endure more than his fair share of negative headlines, especially from some of the United Kingdom's more right-wing news publications.
We all remember, of course, the Daily Mail's character assassination of Miliband's father in 2013, in which the former Royal Navy officer was described as 'the man who hated Britain'.
Despite overwhelming pressure from across the political spectrum, the Mail refused to apologise for printing the story and even repeated their claims. It was so abundantly clear that they had gone too far that Miliband's response to the article even generated support from Prime Minister David Cameron.
In more recent times, Miliband has been somewhat confusingly characterised as both an awkward man, who is too weak to lead the country, and a ruthless politician who 'stabbed his own brother in the back'. However, the latest attempt to demonise Ed Miliband stands out as particularly strange.
Today, both the Daily Mail and the Telegraph printed stories about Ed Miliband's 'tangled love life', where they revealed that - wait for it - prior to getting married, Ed Miliband had other girlfriends. Yes, it turns out that the apparent Lothario Labour leader's previous conquests include the likes of former economics editor for Newsnight, Stephanie Flanders, and the journalist, Alice Miles. Of course, the story was dressed up a little, with the Mail reporting that Ed's wife, Justine Miliband, was 'furious' when she found out he had dating Flanders - even though this occurred a full year before Ed and Justine started dating.
The headline, referring to Miliband's love life as 'tangled' and quoting Justine Miliband as 'furious', was clearly designed to appear like a scandal. Perhaps even implying to the casual observer, who merely glanced at the Daily Mail's front page this morning, that Ed Miliband had cheated on his wife.
But this particular attempt to attack Miliband is odd for several reasons. Firstly, because the knowledge that Ed Miliband has dated a number of successful, intelligent women throughout his adult life only serves to further confuse our perception of him, after the same newspapers have portrayed him for so long as 'ugly', 'weird' and 'a Wallace look-a-like.'
Secondly, the actual details of the story are not remotely damaging for Ed Miliband. He dated women before he got together with his wife. That is literally the entire content of the story.
And thirdly, because it comes in the same week that the Conservatives' Defence Secretary, Michael Fallon, was widely criticised for his personal attack on Miliband. Writing in The Times, Fallon once again accused Miliband of stabbing his brother in the back, before asserting that Miliband was prepared to 'stab the United Kingdom in the back' as well, in his bid to become Prime Minister.
Three different opinion polls published yesterday show that Labour now hold a slight advantage over the Conservatives, while Ed Miliband's personal approval ratings have also improved. The message is clear: People are sick of nonsensical mud-slinging and transparent personal attacks. Stick to attacking policy.
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